Writing and Publishing Books with Free...

Writing and Publishing Books with Free Software

Nathan Hainesnhaines@ubuntu.com

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Nathan Haines

• Computer enthusiast

– Programmer

– Gamer

– Computer technician

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Nathan Haines

• Ubuntu member

– California Local Community Team Leader

• Speaking engagements

• Installfests

• Release Parties

– Ubuntu Local Community Council

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Nathan Haines

• Author

– Introductory magazine articles

– Beginning Ubuntu Linux for Windows and Mac Users

(Apress; Fall 2015)

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Ubuntu

A complete solution for your computer

Secure and up-to-date

Free and Open Source software

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Why publish a book?

• Have a story to tell

• Want to connect with others

• Fame

• Fortune

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Publishing a book

• Traditional Publishing

• Self-publishing

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Traditional publishing

• Write a manuscript

– Non-fiction books are sold by proposal

• Submit manuscript to agents

• Agent submits to publishers

• Publisher offers a contract

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Self-publishing

• Write a book

• Hire editor(s)

• Hire cover designer

• Hire layout designer

• Publish the book

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Royalties

• Traditional publishing

– Publisher pays an advance on royalties

– Publisher collects 45-55% of gross profit

– Pays author 8-15% of net profit

• Agent receives 10-15% of author’s profit

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Royalties

• Self-publishing

– Author receives 100% of net profit

• 35-70% of gross profit on ebooks

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Royalties

• Traditional publishing

– Team of experts work on your book

– Access to book stores and libraries

• Self-publishing

– You find and hire your own team

– Keep creative control, rights, and marketing

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Time to write

• Word processing software

– LibreOffice Writer

– FocusWriter

– Your favorite text editor

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Editing in Word

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Editing in LibreOffice Writer

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Revision

• LibreOffice Writer

– Track changes

– Compatible with Word tracking and comments

• Source control

– Probably overkill

– Good for changes, not for comments

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Revising in LibreOffice Writer

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Interior Layout

• LibreOffice

– Styles and page formatting

• Scribus

– Full desktop publishing solution

• Sigil

– EPUB formatting for ebooks

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First page layout

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Interior page layout

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Ebook interior layout

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Cover Design

• Gimp

• Inkscape

• Front cover for ebooks

• Wraparound cover for print

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Print cover template

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Finished cover

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Publishing a print book

• Publisher takes care of this step

• Print-On-Demand prints PDF files

– CreateSpace

– IngramSpark

– Lulu Press

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Publishing an ebook

• Most ebook stores accept Word or EPUB

– Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing

– Nook Press

– Smashwords

– iTunes

– Google Play Books

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Digital Rights Management

• Digital Restrictions Management?

– Only affects paying customers

– Can be automatically stripped in seconds

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Questions?